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A team of international scientists found somewhat disconcerting news for those who fear a massive eruption from the Yellowstone supervolcano – our continent is capable of even larger eruptions, not far from the national park.

The findings, published in the Geological Society of America Bulletin, studied areas along the Yellowstone Hotspot Track, which was responsible for large eruptions all over the Western United States in ancient times. They found evidence of at least one super-eruption that occurred along this track 8 to 12 million years ago that was larger than any known eruptions at Yellowstone, the study said.

(MORE: Supervolcano Eruptions Could Be Triggered By Earthquakes, Study Finds)

"The size and magnitude of this newly defined eruption is as large, if not larger, than better-known eruptions at Yellowstone, and it is just the first in an emerging record of newly discovered super-eruptions during a period of intense magmatic activity between 8 and 12 million years ago," said Dr. Tom Knott, a geologist from the University of Leicester and co-author of the study, said in a news release.

While studying rock samples and other data, the scientists were able to conclude fewer super-eruptions occurred during this time frame than previously believed, but those eruptions were also much larger than other studies had suggested. In Idaho's Snake River Plain, for example, the study was able to cut the known number of huge eruptions in half.

There's no evidence that anything resembling these super-eruptions will happen any time in the near future – the National Park Service says a supereruption at Yellowstone isn't likely in the next 10,000 years. But when you consider the size of a possible Yellowstone super-eruption – ash easily reaching New York, waterways as far east as the Mississippi River coated with toxic sludge – one can only imagine the impacts of the eruptions that were even bigger 8 to 12 million years ago.

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